Bees are the most important pollinators on our planet. Without pollination the world would have no food, so it is important to grow flowers (that honey bees feed off) to support their population.

Supporting the bees will benefit your vegetable garden too. When there is a lot of bees, your vegetables will grow abundantly and your trees will fruit properly. So, if you feed the bees first they will pay you back with more food in your garden than you have ever seen.

Portugal 1985, Bruno Barbey

If you don’t grow a vegetable garden it would still be a good idea to grow flowers just for the sake of the bees. Planting flowers for bees is all about letting your garden burst with colour. Bees like the sun so plant them somewhere sunny.

Flowers are rich in pollen and nectar which is what the bees like to eat. You need to use good organic seeds so that you can ensure that it grows and completes its life cycle and provides seeds of its own. If you do that, you can save the seeds and grow them again the next season, that way they adapt better to your weather conditions and be more likely to survive from season to season.

What to grow specifically for attracting bees:

These all grow locally- don’t worry we did the research for you.

Local Lavender/ Basil in Bahrain it is called “mashmoom” – it is fragrant, and bees love a good aroma. Its flowers are a beautiful light purple.
Borage- All parts of this plant are edible, and the flowers make a nice blue tea from the blue flowers. Plant this with fruiting trees or vegetables so that you can have a good harvest.
Marigold- Helps protect the soil from some insects. It is beneficial to the soil if it’s grown every year, as its effects are seen over time. Its colour is literally a burst of gold and the petals are edible, so use them on your salad.
Rose- Pale pink flowers with a beautiful fragrance, the roses we use to make rosewater are doing a great job for the planet too! Grow local roses in your home, and make your own rose tea.
Sunflowers- Happy, bright and shiny, the bees can't miss them.
Amaranth- The flowers are large with bright burgundy leaves that are edible and attractive to look at. I love using a handful of its leaves in a soup to add a pop of colour.

There are many flowers out there, this is just a list of my favourites.

"When you hear the bees, that is a sign of health. It’s a true assurance that the garden is working as it should and that you have done a little something for this planet."

Beehive, Hilary Kearney

What do bees give us?

Abundant Garden: their work brings us more food
Honey: with its many cleansing benefits
Bee pollen powder: full of antioxidants
Resiny Propolis: with its flavonoids to fight disease and infection
Royal jelly: high in antioxidants, proteins and fatty acids
Bees Wax: antibacterial, healing and soothing especially for eczema and psoriasis
The whole actual Bee: used in some homeopathic medicine to help bring down a fever, because bees keep a stable temperature for their hive. It is one of the many mysteries of the bees that the temperature at the core of a beehive remains almost always exactly 37 degrees celsius- the same temperature as the normal human body.